The Long Dark Breakfast Time of the Soul

What? No eggs? Strike is back in full swing. They have good feed, good treats, no sign of disease, clean coop, so honestly I am at a loss!

Yes, they are older now, and yes I expect one or more to have stopped laying, but all of them and all at once?

Something's up, and for some reason I can't put my finger on it. No matter. I love my flock whether I get eggs or not.

Most Sunday mornings I cook breakfast for herself and I. This morning I am faced with the prospect that I might have to use …

Store bought eggs.

*sigh*

In other news, I came home the other day to a most disturbing post on my facetubes. My neighbor down the street, who has kept a few chickens for years before I ever moved in, posted a photo to my account. The photo was of a little black hen in a carrier with words asking if I was missing a hen! I obsess over my flock and felt pretty damn sure that mine were accounted for, but never the less, the photo sent my flying out door to take a beak count!

"Outta my way, Not-My-Cat!" I shouted as I passed the beggar on my porch. Out to the run in a flash, stooping down to spy all of my dark biddies milling about, and with a great sigh of relief, all were safe and sound.

Coq Au strode up to my vantage point and glared from the other side of the fence.

"Well?" He asked.

"Well WHAT?" I enquired back.

"Well, you're out here. Make with the treats."

"Make with the treats??? How about you talk to the girls about making with the eggs, and toot sweet!" I replied in my frustration and heightened sense of anxiety (quickly fading, as I confirmed that my hens were all safe).

"Fine." I said, and distributed some dried soldier flies and other tasty morsels.

"Here's your treats, but I'd like to remind you that not only do I love my chickens, but I love 'chicken' if you catch my drift."

It was an empty threat and he knew it. My comment went ignored as he pecked away at the treats as the girls swarmed around to collect their due as well.

So, back to the house with a calm demeanor, I replied to my neighbor's inquiry that we were all present and accounted for. Back and forth posting, she and I tried to sus out where the hen came from. Mine were fine, hers were fine, the neighbor one street over was fine … I tagged a person or two from a few streets in the opposite direction that I either knew, or suspected had a few backyard poultry, and nothing. Chickens don't range all that far, even when lost, so it does lead me to wonder just where it came from!

It also dawned on my me just how many people in the area keep at least a couple of hens!

Anyway, I offered to adopt her if her owner can't be found, but as it turns out, I reckon I'd be about third in line, so regardless, the hen won't be homeless. Although she'd be a welcome addition over here, integration of a new hen right at the onset of winter could be tricky. Regardless, I am glad that whatever her outcome, she will have a safe home.